Kate Garraway has opened up about how her co-star and friend Ben Shephard has done "everything he can" to support her while her husband Derek Draper has been in hospital after contracting coronavirus in March.
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Speaking to the Mirror, the Good Morning Britain star praised Ben for dealing with the "pressure" to step in and help during the past months. "For 20 years, Ben's had to do so much for me but this year's been another level," she began. "He's been trying to do everything he can to help – it's been a huge pressure on him."
WATCH: Kate Garraway says she feels "physically sick" ahead of Christmas
She continued: "Working alongside somebody you're worried about, plus also trying to do the job... it's a huge thing. I'm aware how tough it's been for him."
Kate's heartwarming comments on her ITV colleague come soon after Ben expressed his awe for her bravery.
During a recent candid chat with Absolute Radio host Dave Berry on his Dave Berry's Dadpod podcast, Ben said: "The support and the outpouring of love and generosity of spirit from the British public has been incredible... when you see how she's approached it.
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© Photo: InstagramBen Shephard and Kate Garraway are firm friends
"When you see the positivity which she's taking it, and when I see the boys and how they're attacking life, and they're not letting it get in the way of what they're going through.
"It makes me very proud and it also, sort of, redoubles your effort to make sure that, you know, we can keep the stories current and tangible, that hopefully we can present it in a way that can make some change."
© Photo: Getty ImagesKate's husband has been in hospital in March
Last month, Kate admitted on the show that she was feeling apprehensive about the upcoming holidays while Derek remains in hospital. Kate and Ben talked about lockdown and Christmas, with the mother-of-two revealing she felt "physically sick" thinking about being alone with her two children.
"I'm conflicted about Christmas, I'm going to be honest with you," she told Ben.
"I feel physically sick, actually, and I can just feel my chest tightening at the thought of it, in a total panic about the idea of Darcey, Billy and myself, on our own at Christmas, unable to visit Derek, because of potential restrictions, and that huge emotional hole and I don't know how to fill it without grandparents, without friends helping to fill it."
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